1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for retaining, stabilizing and expanding a portion of the body of a person or other biological organism and, in particular embodiments, a portion of a woman's breast, for medical examination, interventions, and/or hygienic shielding purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Various systems for examining human breast tissue are known in the art. For example, x-ray mammography systems for taking x-ray images of breast tissue, have been used for quite some time to identify and locate tumors, growths or other anomalies in the breast or chest wall tissue. Typically, such systems employ two generally parallel plates arranged to squeeze the patient's breast therebetween to flatten and hold the patient's breast steady during the x-ray imaging process. This procedure can create severe discomfort for the patient. In addition, since the breast is covered by the two plates during the imaging process, interventional procedures (wherein a medical instrument is inserted into the breast tissue) are typically difficult and cumbersome during the imaging process or while the breast is held by the plates.
Other imaging processes employ flat, hard surfaces on which the patient's breast is pressed, to make the breast as flat as possible during the imaging process. Further processes employ specially designed tables having holes through which the patient's breasts are suspended. These various prior systems can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful to the patient. In addition, these systems may not provide enough support to hold the breast tissue steady during the imaging process. Since the breast tissue is relatively flexible and difficult to stabilize, an anomaly detected by an imaging system may be difficult to locate with an intervention instrument (such as a needle).
In addition to x-ray imaging systems, other imaging systems are known in the art, including ultrasound systems and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. However, many of these known systems do not employ any suitable mechanism for holding the breast tissue stable during the imaging process, and therefore, may render it difficult to locate an anomaly detected by the imaging process with an intervention instrument. While it is known in some MRI systems to employ a bra-type device for holding the breast, such devices do not stabilize the tissues when an intervention instrument is used on the breast.
Thus, some of the known systems discussed above employ mechanisms for holding a patient's breast steady during an imaging process, but can be extremely uncomfortable to the patient. Furthermore, some of these systems cannot be used with an intervention instrument (for insertion into the breast tissue) while the breast is held in position during an imaging process. Thus, in various known systems, it may be difficult to find with an intervention instrument the same location in the breast tissue at which an anomaly is detected from an image produced by the imaging system. Furthermore, in various known systems, such as those discussed above, it is a common practice to directly contact the skin of the breast with, for instance, table surfaces, panel surfaces or other portions of the imaging apparatus. This raises hygienic concerns and may require extensive sterilization of portions of the imaging instruments prior to each use thereof.